Tampa, FL -- AAA Club South reports prices at the pump will continue to fall as motorists near the year-end travel holiday of Dec. 23 through Jan. 2. The downward trend is expected to continue into the New Year as oil prices drop below $95 a barrel.

AAA says it's Europe's lingering debt issues and somber economic outlook that continue to push oil prices down. The dollar gained momentum after the value of the euro fell curbing the appeal of oil as a commodity. Oil prices also dropped after OPEC agreed to increase ouput quotas to 30 million barrels a day to meet future expected growth numbers.

Average retail gasoline prices in Tampa fell 3.1 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.18/g yesterday. This compares with the national average that fell 4.3 cents per gallon in the last week to $3.23/g, according to gasoline price website TampaGasPrices.com.

Including the change in gas prices in Tampa during the past week, prices yesterday were 26.8 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago and are 11.0 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 13.4 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 26.4 cents per gallon higher than this day one year ago.

"Gas prices across much of the nation continue their downward move, bringing the national average for a gallon down to its lowest level since late February," GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan said in a release. "While some motorists are thinking these falling gasoline prices are nice, I'll unpleasantly remind them that gasoline prices will still set record highs this Christmas across much of America- motorists have never seen average prices this high on Christmas. As prices typically reach a low point during early winter, this sets up a troubling start to 2012 in terms of gasoline prices. Summer gasoline prices typically are 80-120 cents per gallon higher than where prices stand around Christmas."